Knitting machine



Jan. 8,1935. R. E. MATE ET AL 1,937,022

KNITTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 29, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VENTORS Roberi EfMale BY Nz'dwlas Scaldino I I I Janw8; 1935 R. E. MATE ET AL KNITTING MACHINE Filed Oct.

29, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY,

Jan. 8, 1935. R. E. MATE El AL KNITTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 29, 1932 S SheetS-Sheet 3 llli cos 0 o o o o o o ATTORNEY.

Patented Jan. 8, 1935 f STATES earl:

I g V KNITTING MACHINE Robert E. Mate and Nicholas Scardino, Philadelphia; Pas, assignors to Philadelphia, Pa.

Frank M. Titelman,

Application. October 29, 1932, Serial No. 640,202"

irclaims. (crass-155') I This invention relates tecircular knitting machines and. more particularly to those provided. with:means-fon'selectively controlling the operation of; the. cylinder needles for the. purpose of making designs and other forms of special. stitching. in the worlr by the use-oftthewe1l known jacquard apparatus in which;..through-the1 medium. of perforated cards andsuitable other mechanisms the needles which are; to; be utilized for vmaking stitches are selectively put in: condition to beactuated-by the cylinder cams-in the desired predetermined sequence. I Machinesuof: this character are commonl utilized. for manufacture of sweaters, golf hose, and: other articles-in: which fancy, designs resultadjacentcardxcarrying drums in. predetermined sequence, to produce the required sequential;action of the corresponding. needles, In such machines the several drums are" ordinarily driven by suit-- able: gear trains from. the lower bevel- "gear, ring.

whichis in turn: actuated through: suitable. bevel.

andspur. gears. from the. cam race-ring. Thus,

since: the latter is: in continuous; operation while ,Q the machine is being, used ,ior'knitting, and neces-'- sarily musttbefor the needlecamsto be rotated and" the'ne'edles to beactuatedin. their proper.

sequence; in the machines heretofore used the card=drurns referredto have-likewise been main- 35 tained incontinuous operation even when they.

were not: beingused, as when the machine is.

being; used; for plain knitting, either with" or without intermittent knitting.

design: knitting: for the design to be continuously repeated or-else for the plai-nwork intervening between successive designs to provide the same space asthat occupied. by the design, or a multi 15. ple thereof, in order that the knitting of the design might thereafter be. resumed, when desired,

at'the proper point; .It will be understood'by those skilled in the. art that thisrequirement results from the continuous operation of the endlessjacquard cards, making the completion of what maybe termeda jacquard-cycle necessary each timeone such cycleisbegun in order thatwhen the mechanism is again placed in condition for knitting a: design, the commencement ofsuch knitting-willmake the'initial stitches of the design connection with each machine and so arranged interpolation; of design, V v v r trol mechanisms ordinarily employed for hold As a result, it has heretofore been necessary in;

rather than some other. stitches intended to be; made at some.;point. later" in: the pattern.

A practical disadvantage arising from'this cons; dition and which has recently become: of con.-.--

siderable force due tothe. large'demand for 5;..-

knitted sweater fabrics and the like having. relatively; wide design bands or areas; has been. the impossibility of knitting the sweater bodies or other tubular fabrics; ofanyadesired predetersuch lengths and the length occupiedby the de.-,, sign. Thus, for example, if a design of 12. inches in width is employed, it has" been necessary, to;

make the length of the sweater'bodies-some: exact multiple of 12 inchesin order to have thejdesign 15. occupy the desired position in. the-body,.so that to manufacture a 28. inch sweater body having a 12 inch design, the body had to be knit. to alength of 36 inches, usually with 12 inches of plain knitting above'and below the design, and the excess;

8 inches of plain work-then.- cut cite-from either the topor thebottom. and discarded,.sin ce. the knitting of thisrexcessamount of plain workwas required by the necessity of completing. the jacmined length irrespectiverof the relation between 10-:

quard cycle to permitv the designto-occupy its 25.

proper. position insthe succeeding,sweateribodyt I 1.

i A principal object of-our invention-,;therefore, is. v to provide an improved driving and controlling. means forthe jacquard drums of atcircular. knitting machine whichwill permitthe knitting of. all

design tube discontinued upon the completion thereof and thereafter resumed at, any desired point in the course otsubsequent knitting irrespective of the amount of plain knitting inter-.- veningbetween-the two design areas. 7 v g Another object of our invention is; tov provide a single unitary control. for the jacquard drive of such a machine whereby the-leverrelease coning the needle controllingleversin non-operative 40 position when, plain knitting, as. distinguished, from design knitting, is in progress, may beeliminated entirely from the machine and: the. energy 1 lossand wear and tear on the machine hereto fore resulting from their operationthus obviated. f l

A still-further object of. the invention is to.-pro.-- vide means whereby the body of-a sweater or like article being knitted on-va circular knitting, ma.-

chine with the aid.of. jacquard mechanismszmay.

be finished off at. any desired. lengthand another tion further including the provision of means for continuously actuating the control card through the drum ordinarily provided for the purpose, in-W dependently of the operation of the jacquard drums and without in any way being affected by their use or non-use.

A still further object of the invention is to pro vide means whereby the operation of the jacquard drums may be initiated or discontinued at any desired predetermined point automatically in re-' sponseto suitable perforations in the control card through the instrmnentalityof the lever release throw cam ordinarily provided on the cam section ring of s the machine and heretofore customarily utilized for the purposeof actuating the-lever'release controlmechstnisms in controlling the engagement of the levers with the'jacquard cards.

Other purposes, objects and advantages of'our invention will hereinafter more fully appear or will be understood by those skilled in the art from the following: description of a preferred embodi-' ment-thereof during which reference will be had to the accompanying drawings:

In the ordinary circular jacquard knitting ma- I chines of "the type to which reference has been made, the control drum and the several jacquard drums are provided with individual gear trains interconnecting them with the bevel gear ring in such way that they are all actuated simultaneously and continuously while, the bevel gear is being driven from the cam ring during the operation .vided' for 'raising and lowering each bank of jacquard levers with respect to its adjacent drum of the machine and a lever release bracket is proand card when, in response to suitable perforations in the control card, the lever lift cams are actuated, j when changing from plain knitting to design or pattern knitting, the control card is eifective-to so position the lever release throw'camthat a complete revolution of the cam sectionring on which it'is disposed causes the successiveactuation of each of the lever lift cams to drop the leversto position for engagement with. the jacquard cards, the levers being again raised;

through substantially similar action, when plain knitting'is'to-be resumed.

In accordance with" our invention we provide a separate and independent drive, taken off the main driving shaft, for the'control drum which is thus continuously rotated when the machine is oper-- 6o, ating' o'n eitherplan or design work while the bevel- .gear ring referred to is utilized only for driving the'jacquard drums; furthermore, we interpos e: afreleasable control in the drive of the bevel gear ring and so arrange the actuating elemen'tsof the control that certain of the lever release control mechanisms heretofore instrumental in effecting the raising and lowering ofthe lever release brackets areutilized for the purpose of actuating said control. Thus the bevel gear ring andthe jacquard drums are normally rotated only 'during design knitting and remain at restywhile the machine isknittingplan fabric. In consequence," considering the machine as heretofore constructed and as compared with a simliar one embodying our 'jinventionpin the latter all lever release controls and control brackets are eliminated, the jacquard drums are normally driven only when required for the purpose of knitting a design or pattern and suitable mechanism, preferably that heretofore utilized for raising and lowering one of the lever release brackets, is employed for the purpose of actuating the bevel gear To this endsuch mechanism' ring drive control. is desirably arranged so as to be responsive to perforations in the control card for initiatingor terminating design knitting by starting or stopping 'thejacquard drum drive whereas this result has heretofore been effected through lowering and raising the jacquard levers while the drums were kept in motion.

, Referring now to the drawings, Fig. l'is a top plan view, partly broken away into horizontal sec- ;tion, of a large circular jacquard knitting ma-. chine embodying one form of our invention, the

thread carrier, needles and several other associated parts being omitted, since they'form no part thereof and may be of usual and well known construction. Figi 2 isan enlarged fragmentary side perspective'view ofv the drive shaft side of the machine showing our improved driving means i for the control card, and Fig. 3 is a still furtherenlarged fragmentary perspective view of the op-' posite side of the machine showing ourautomatic jacquard drum drive control.

same parts.

machine of a usual type in which our invention may be advantageously employed, it will be understood we do not thereby imply that ltsuse is in any way confined to machines of this specific, character as there are many other types of "circular knitting machineswhich permit the use of' or H are provided'with jacquard controls in connection" with which our invention m y be utilized with corresponding advantage,

Thus we have merely diagrammatically: indi-" cated in Fig. 1 thegeneral construction of a ma-'- chine havingtwelve banks of jacquard levers .L with a drum D and card C foreach,the machine being thus particularly adapted for use in making sweater bodies. The machine is actuated from a driven pulley 1 suitably geared to a shaft; 2 driving a spur gear 3, which engages the cam-sec-ftion ring gear 4 carried by the cam section ring R in'such way as to rotate the latter in a. counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1-.; On the opposite side ofthe machine a substantially similar spur gear 8 meshing with the gear ring 4 drives a vertical shaft 9 to which is non-rotatably keyed or otherwise secured in accordance with our invention, a clutch half 10 slidable' therealong and" adapted for engagement with" acomplementary' clutch half 12 integral witha bevel 'pinion'13.

The latter meshes with the customary gears (not shown) provided for driving the lower bevelgear ring 14 and thus the jacquard drums D, driven therefrom in the usual'way. 'As will be clearly apparent'from Fig. 3, the rotationof the-bevelpinion 13 in correspondence with therotation of the shaft 9 when the machine is operating thus} In the several figures, like characters are used to designate the y i .530; While we have indicated inthe drawings a.

depends on the position of the sliding half 10 of the clutch with respect to the pinion; The sliding clutch half 10 iscontrolled by a'fork 15 carried by a vertical rod 16 slidably supported in the sleeve 1'7 of 'a bracket -18 which may be bolted or otherwise secured to an adjacent drum frame.

19 or any otherconvenient point. The rod- 16 is provided at its upper end with an outwardly prov jecting arm 20, a collar 21, secured to the rod by a set screw holding one end of thearm in position ated in the customary way from the throw cam 3 1 ordinarily situated on the cam section ring R, as shown in 3 The position of thethrow cain-is determined in-the 'usualmanner' by'a con-- mi lever (not shown) adapted ta" engage the throwcamraising-cam 32 to thereby lift'thethrow upon theirpriorstatus;-

Inasmuch as the drum P carrying the master s control card has heretofore ordinarily'fbeen driven fromthe bevel ring gear 14 through a geared: drive generally simi-lar to the jacquard card drive inthe ordinary machine; and, inaccordance wi-thour invention, the bevel ring-gearrotates only; during designknitting, weprovide; furthermore, an independent drive tomaintainrotation of the control card drum P continuously during the knitting process" irrespective of whether-the bevel= ring-gear isbeing rotated or not, thus'permitting' the knitting of plain work to be 'carried out to any predetermined desiredextent, depending on-the perforationsin: the control; card, when desired,-the jaequard= mechanisms remaining inoperative during such knitting through disengagement of the clutch- 10; 12

As the control card bracket B is usually arranged fair-1y oloseto-themaimdrive shaft'of the machine, the controldrum P may' very conveniently be driventherefrom and we may thus,

"' as shown-in-the drawings, provide apa-ir of rotat'a' ble shafts 35, 3fi mount'ed in suitable brackets 38- secured tothe bed ot the machine;- theshaft 35 being provided at one end with a spurgear' 40 secured; thereto-by a set screw 41* and engaging: a similar spur gear 42*secured t'o-thedrive shaft 2' by. a set screw t3 whilejtha opposite end of the shaft .35': is provided with a. bevel: gear 45 abutting: a. spacer 461and2 engaging a similar beveli gear 47. secured, to the shaftl36'. The latter, provlded with a spurhgear 48 engaginga gear trainVSO, thusdrives the I control P- in suitabln timed rela tion1wi-th the rotation of the shaftxZzat all times during: the operation of the machine.

'Dhe: manner or operating: a. jacquard: knitting i machine when" modified; and arrangedainxaccord-v ance with our invention and as hereinbefore de-h scribed,- isnot substantiallnidiirerent from that of a machineof'; like character but devoidi offour improvements since the "release and/or engage-i mento-f: thejacquardcontrcliclutch is .efl'eoted by actuation-ot-the throw camtinspreciselythe same manner-.as'the several lever releases are: normally actuatedithereby, so that no changeinntheperfosrations of the control card orin thejacquard cards. is required. Furthermore, since upon engagement of the jacquard. clutch the operation of all the jacquard drums is initiated simultaneouslyand likewise terminatedissimultaneously.on release of! the clutch, the knitting ofthe design bvathe needl'esat all of the feeds is begunand endedsi-multaneously rather than successively asswhent thel'eversiare successively'lowered andraisedv-durm ing complete-rotations of the cam section ring in. accordance with the prior practice. It iscmoreover evident thatin accordance with our invention the jacquard mechanisms arefmaintained entirely. inoperative during the knitting of plain work andi-thuszunnecessary wear andresultantrapid destruction of jacquardi cards and other partsisavoidedwhile an amount of driving energy is savedi. substantially equivalent to thatv heretofore required for continuouslyactuating these parts; during plain knitting when they were pro-- ducing no effect, upon the work.-

The control card" is of course desirably so perforated that the lever operating the-throw cam raising cam 32 is actuated to raise the throw cam 31 for that revolution of the cam ring R corresponding to the knitting course i-n which. it is desired to\ begin the. design in the Work thereby effecting engagement of the jazzquard' clutch, and. is againso: actuated upon completion of the design as to disengage theclutch, thus-interrupting themovement of the jacquard cards when their respective drums-are: insuchhpositionthat arepetitionot the design will be initiated upon subsequent reengagement of the clutch with consequent rotation :of thedrums. It is thus apparent that any desiredamount-of plain; knitting may "intervene between successive designs irrespective of the-width of the-design or the: relation between suchwidth and the width of the intervening plain knitting and also that, when desired, the design' may be repeated any number of times either with or without the interpolation of plain knitting.

'It will: furthermore be apparent that the-use of our invention tendsto the general simplifi cation-of the machine as a whole, as it eliminates:

' all ot'the usual lever-release brackets and leverrel'ease control mechanisms which are frequently subject tobreakage and are relatively expensive to replace.- In lieu thereof weemploybut asingle mechanism, convenientlyof generally like nature, to control the'position of the clutch fr-omthe; cam ring, which tends not only to='lower the initial cost of the machine but its maintenance expense when in use, while our improvements as a whole permit the placing of the design wherever desired in-the fabric without regard to the=length of the pl'ain lcnitting-lying oneither side thereof; with consequent frequent saving in: manufacturing cost of the finished sweaters or other. articlesproduced on the machine.

Although wehave herein described our invention with considerable particularityfand with special-inference toits applicationto-a circular sweater 'body knitting machine provided with twelve jacquard drums and their associated mechanisms; it is to be understood that it; may with-equal facilit-y be employed in other sizes and types-of knitting machines and in other machines employing jacquard: mechanisms and that: changes and modification's inthe specific form of the variousmechanical elements utilized inthe appended claims.

Having thus described our invention; we. and desire, to protect by, Letters Patent -of the United States: I 1 t V.

, 1. In a knitting machine comprising a jacquard drum, a, cam section ring and means .for. driving said ring, means for driving .the drum including;

a clutch operable tointerrupt said drive, and means associated with-said cam section ring-for actuatingthe clutch to'therebycause rotation or stoppage of the drum. r ,1

2; In a machine forjthemanufacture of. tentile' fabric comprising. a rotatable icam (section ring and a jacquard card operative to effect thesproduction' of a-design in the-fabric manufactured byrthe'machina'means for driving the card= in-.

eluding a clutch operable to interrupt said drive,

actuating means for said clutch,- and means:as'-, sociated with said, cam section ring-'operablentov actuate said actuating means-to thereby. effect thecam section. ring. i

In a machine forthe manufacture of textile including a clutch arranged to interrupt said drive when disengaged, actuating meansfor said clutclnxand means associated withsaid-camsece tion' ring and controlled by said controlv card operable to, engagesaid clutch actuating means to thereby effect successive engagementand;disengagement of theclutch to intermittently drive the jacquard cards in predetermined' timed rela-. l said drive, means operable through the revolution of the cam section'ring for engaging and disen tion withthe-movement of the control; card.

4. Ina circular knitting machine comprising a rotatable cam section ring and a plurality of jacquard cards adapted tocontrol the character of the knitting efieoted by the ,needlesof the machine, driving means forsaidfljacquard cards" including a clutch disengageableto interrupt said drive, 'a throw cam carried'by: the cam section. ring and'means engageable therewith operable to eilectsuccessive engagement and disengagement of the clutch to thereby successively initiate and interrupt the operation ofthe jacquard cardsp a ,5. A circular knitting machine comprising a control drum adapted to carry a control card,

means for continuouslydriving the; drum while themachine is in operation, a plurality of Jaeguard drums, means including a clutch operative when the clutch is engaged to drive -all of the ing the operation ofnthe machine, a bevel gear disengaging means.

ring,,a plurality of jacquard drums interconnected with the bevel gear ring each adapted- ;to.support a jacquard card, means including aclutch operative when theclutch is engaged to drive, the bevel scarring t therebyrotate all. of the ;jac-o. quard drums simultaneously; means for; engag.-,

ing and disengaging saidclutch, and means car:

ried, by the cam section ring for actuatingsaid" clutch engagin an s neae ameans in 00 dinated relation with the movement of the control card on its drum to therebycause, allotsaid jacquard drums to simultaneously move their jac quard cards at predetermined, intervalsduring the progressive creation of the knitted fabric I by the machine. 1

A-circular combinationa plurality of jacquard ,drums each adapted to sup ,a;iacq a a l a on r drum. adapted; to support a control card, a; cam section ringand gear, means-fordriving said ring gear, a; bevel-,gear -ring, driving mechanism between the bevel gear ring and geach ,of' the jacquard drums, means including a ,clutch interposedbetween said bevelgear ringv and; the ring gear operative whensaid clutch is engaged to iv be el s ar i g nd thereby c u the jacquard drums, to,rotate simultaneously,

me ns oci d 'wi ht h m eai l i s r, engaging and disengaging said clutch, means independent :ofthe bevellbear ring for driving the control drum, and meansactuated through the medium of the control: cardcarriedby the con-, trol drum for actuating said clutchengaging and:

v 8. A circularknitting machine comprising in combination a camsection ring, means ior driving said ring, a bevel ringwgear 'a plurality or jacquard drumseachadapted to support e jacquard--card, means for driving ofsaid simultaneously from saidbevel ring gear, means for driving thebevel gear-from the camsec tion ring including a clutch operable to interrupt gaging said clutch, a control drum adapted to support a control card, means independent of the bevel ring gear for drivingsaiddrum continuous- 1y whfl the m ch ne ,is noper t o a d means actuated from the; control card [carried by the control drum for actuating theclutch -engaging and disengaging means to simultaneously start and stop all ofgthe. jacquard-drums in timed relation with themovements' of the control card,

, 9.A circular-knitting machine having a control drum adapted to actuate a control card,

a plurality of jacquard each adapted'to actuate a jacquard cardand means for driving-all of said jacquard drums simultaneously, a clutch interposedin said last mentionedymeans a operable to connect and disconnect-said means with said drums, means forv driving'the control drum.con-' tinuously during operation ofthe machine, a cam section ring and driving means therefor, and means associated'with-the cam section ring oper-, able to actuate said clutch-to start and stop the jacquard drums in predetermined timed relation to the movements of the control card on the control drum to thereby initiate and discontinue jacquard knitting at predetermined intervals in the knitted fabric as it is progressively created by'the machine. l

l0. The'combination'with a circular machine comprising a. rotatable cam sectionring; a throwcam carried thereby; actuating means for the throw cam, a plurality ofjacquarddrums and a mam; miahae;a a ng in bevel gear ring operable to drive said drums, of

. driving means interposed between said cam section ring and said bevel gear ring operable to effect rotation of said bevel gear ring in timed relation with the rotation of the cam section ring and including a clutch, and means adapted to engage said throw cam to effect intermittent disengagement of said clutch to thereby intermittently interrupt the rotation of the bevel gear 11. The combination with a circular knitting machine comprising a rotatable cam section ring, a throw cam carried thereby a plurality of jacquard drums and driving gears therefor, of driv ing means including a clutch operable when engaged to drive said driving gears from the cam section ring, means for controlling the clutch and means adapted for engagement by the throw cam for automatically actuating said clutch controlling means.

ROBERT E. MATE.-

NICHOLAS SCARDINO. 

